Sonic Avenues

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Sonic Avenues are a Montreal-based rock band whose music combines the aggressive energy of punk rock with the hooky jubilance of power pop and the melodic smarts of indie rock. They released their 4th album, Disconnector, in 2016 via Blow the Fuse Records (Canada) and Dirtnap Records (rest of the world). Sonic Avenues toured all over the world. Previous records have been well received by the likes of Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, Spin, Noisey, and Alternative Press, among others.

The 12 songs featured on the album were recorded in the winter of 2016 by Adrian Popovich and Sonic Ave’s vocalist/guitarist Maxime Desharnais at Mountain City and Sound Salvation Studios (the latter being Desharnais’ home). Lyrically, Disconnector continues to build on the thoughtful vibe largely established on their last LP (2014’s well received Mistakes). Their new work, which favors an approach of select contexts subjugated by phonetic writing, explores themes of future and destiny, human potential and its annihilation, self-control, abandon, etc.

In terms of sheer energy, the band’s punk roots are still in evidence. Given the subsequent development in lyrical and musical maturity, though, if you didn’t know what to listen for, this could almost be a different band from the one that released their s/t debut LP back in 2009.

Disconnector sees the band drawing its drive, dynamics and lyrical content from the desire to get as far away as possible from the formula of creative comfort. The approach resulted in an array of songs in which the band plays with new instrumentation, different tempos and a variety of song structures. Sonic Avenues’ conscious effort to offer abrupt contrasts and new textures has them further developing their own dynamic, turning dark and quiet into fast, noisy, fuzzed-out sing-alongs. Sonic Avenues toured all over the world. Previous records have been well received by the likes of Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, Spin, Noisey, and Alternative Press, among others.